BtVS: Might Have Beens and Maybes
by DiScOrD tHe LuNaTiC
Summary: End of Seas2 beg. of seas3 AT fic, Buffy may have to deal with another consequence of her 17th birthday night...
1. Sick Days

DISCLAIMER  
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm not making dime   
one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of myself and others. Please don't sue.  
Most character names and places are copyright to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy,   
Inc., but this story is copyrighted 2002 LuNaTiC Publishing.   
  
  
NOTES  
I have been a fan of both the 'Buffy' movie and series since their respective beginnings,   
and I decided to combine some 'Buffy' story with an element from the anime film   
'Vampire Hunter D'. The element is the dampiel, the child of a human and a vampire.   
Now, don't go jumping off the deep end when you finish this, thinking 'what the hell is he   
doing?' This story has nothing to do with anything else, and it was just damn fun to   
write. I like messing with histories that have never been revealed.   
  
  
SYNOPSIS  
It's three months after Buffy and Angel slept together, he's just recently back from  
Hell. Let the drama begin.  
  
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  
  
Might Have Beens and Maybes  
  
Chapter 1 -- Sick Days  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Buffy Summers awoke at 6:45 a.m. and groaned. The awful nausea was just as bad   
today as it had been yesterday. And the day before that. Missing two days of school was   
bad enough, but three was worse. Shaking her head slightly as she trudged weakly   
towards the bathroom, she muttered to herself.   
  
"I am going to be *so* behind...."   
  
As she washed her face off with a warm rag, Buffy studied herself in the mirror. Her   
minimalist makeup wasn't there, of course, but the dark circles under her eyes and the   
dirty tinge to her long blonde hair made her groan. As she entertained the notion of a   
quick shower, she suddenly felt the nausea take hold of her stomach in what seemed to   
be a grip of steel, and it was all she could do to get the lid of the toilet lifted before   
vomiting. Shuddering, she realized gladly that her hair had fallen to the side, and as   
such had been spared a toilet bowl water treatment. Wiping her mouth on a piece of   
toilet paper, she stood up slowly and grabbed the bottle of mint mouthwash, taking an   
extra large swig and holding it in her mouth for almost a minute before spitting it in the   
sink. As she flushed the toilet and made her way back to bed, she caught the scent of   
bacon and eggs from the kitchen. The nausea started to rise again, and she turned to   
run back to the bathroom.   
  
"Oh, God...."  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Joyce Summers was in the kitchen, humming to herself as she prepared her own   
breakfast. Buffy probably wouldn't have wanted any, so she failed to take into account   
the fact that scent travels. As she put the hot pan in the sink and turned the water on,   
the kitchen phone rang, and Joyce went to answer it.   
  
"Hello?"   
  
"Joyce? Oh, good." The cultured baritone of Sunnydale High School librarian/Slayer   
Watcher/occult researcher/Buffy's father figure Rupert Giles came over the phone.   
  
"Rupert, hi, how are you? Oh, I'm afraid Buffy won't be in school today, either. Could you   
tell Principal Snyder for me?"   
  
"Yes, yes, whatever. Look, Joyce, I need you to do me a favor." Joyce began to realize   
something was up. Giles' words were more clipped than usual, and he hadn't even   
cared that Buffy wasn't coming to school. "Get Buffy up, shove some medicine down   
her throat, do whatever it takes, but get her to this address as soon as possible. It is a   
very serious matter."   
  
Joyce blinked a few times before responding. "Um....okay, let me get a pen...." She   
rooted around the kitchen for a moment before finding a pen and her grocery notepad   
and writing down the unfamiliar address Giles gave her. "Rupert....what's this about?"   
  
"As I said, it's very serious, and I don't want to go into it more than once. Please, Joyce,   
get Buffy out of bed this instant. We'll be waiting." He then hung up the phone before   
Joyce could even ask 'who's we?'. Puzzled, Joyce hung up her phone and went   
upstairs.  
  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Buffy?" Joyce's light alto penetrated the closed bathroom door.   
  
"Yeah, mom. What?" Buffy got up from hugging the toilet again and stood even more   
slowly than before. Flushing with one hand, she opened the door with the other.   
  
"I just got a call from Rupert....um, I mean, Mr. Giles. He was very insistent that you and   
I meet him soon at this address." Joyce handed Buffy the paper, and watched in   
confusion as her daughter's eyes got wide. "Buffy....do you recognize that address?"   
  
Buffy looked up, concern etched on her features. "Yeah, it's--it's Angel's mansion. Giles   
said to meet him there?"   
  
Joyce nodded. "He said to get there as soon as possible. That it was very serious."   
  
A sudden terror gripped Buffy's throat, and she pushed past her mother to her bedroom.   
As Joyce watched, the wan seventeen-year old grabbed a pair of panties, socks, and a   
bra from her dresser, and a pair of blue jeans and a shirt from her closet.   
  
"Mom, go get your keys! Hurry!" Buffy shut the door in her mother's face, and a   
not-so-slightly confused Joyce went and got her purse and keychain, and changed from   
her pajama top into a sweatshirt. Walking back down the hall, she was surprised to see   
a fully-dressed Buffy emerge, and start quickly down the stairs.   
  
"Mom, come on, let's *go*!"  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * 


	2. Shocked

DISCLAIMER  
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm not making dime   
one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of myself and others. Please don't sue.   
Most character names and places are copyright to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy,   
Inc., but this story is copyrighted 2002 LuNaTiC Publishing.   
  
  
NOTES  
I have been a fan of both the 'Buffy' movie and series since their respective beginnings,   
and I decided to combine some 'Buffy' story with an element from the anime film   
'Vampire Hunter D'. The element is the dampiel, the child of a human and a vampire.   
Now, don't go jumping off the deep end when you finish this, thinking 'what the hell is he   
doing?' This story has nothing to do with anything else, and it was just damn fun to   
write. I like messing with histories that have never been revealed.   
  
  
SYNOPSIS  
It's three months after Buffy and Angel slept together, he's just recently back from  
Hell. Let the drama begin.  
  
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  
  
Might Have Beens and Maybes  
  
Chapter 2 -- Shocked  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Rupert Giles was pacing back and forth in the living room of the huge old house owned   
by the vampire Angel. Although given back his soul by the Gypsy spell that Jenny   
Calender had rediscovered, Angel had been traumatized by his time in Hell, and was   
also still relativly weak. Giles had gone ahead and explained the situation to him, and   
was more than a bit surprised when Angel took the news in stride. Now, if only Buffy   
and Joyce would get there....   
  
"Giles."   
  
Giles spun around. "Yes?"   
  
Angel sat on the hearth, his hands clasped and his eyes watching the other man. "Stop   
pacing. You're gonna wear a rut in my floor."   
  
Giles sighed. "Yes, you're right, I know it's not doing me any good to be so bloody   
anxious about this, but I want them to get here--"   
  
"*Giles*." Angel sighed himself. "They'll get here when they get here. Now, if you want to   
worry about something, worry about what you're gonna say to Buffy and Joyce."   
  
Giles took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't slept in over twenty-five hours.   
"Yes....yes, you're right....again. It's just....I don't know how I'm going to tell them--"   
  
"Tell us what?" Buffy came into the mansion, slightly on gaurd, and then her mood   
lightened considerably as she saw Angel. Running to him, she felt the fear in her heart   
dissipate as he returned the tight embrace and whispered in her ear.   
  
"Hey, babe. It's all right. I'm all right." The vampire and the slayer continued to hold each   
other for several seconds before Giles' sharp 'Ahem!' jolted them out of their private little   
universe.   
  
"Buffy....Joyce....I have something to tell you, and....well, there's simply no easy way to   
say it, and I really don't know how you're going to react--"   
  
"Giles." Buffy looked at her Watcher. "Just *tell* us, okay?"   
  
"All right." Giles inhaled deeply. "You've been having bouts of nausea over the last few   
days?"   
  
Buffy nodded. "Yeah...." She didn't know where Giles was going with this.   
  
"And headaches?"   
  
Buffy nodded again. "Yeah...."   
  
Giles' expression darkened. "There's no way to be delicate about this next part, I'm   
afraid. Have you....had a period since you and Angel slept together?"   
  
Buffy shook her head. "No....but, I figured what with all the stress about Angel turning   
back into Angelus and me going to L.A. for the summer and everything had thrown me   
off, and I've never really been all that regular....Wait, what does *that* have to do with   
anything?!"   
  
Giles just looked at her, and Buffy could see his eyebrows knit together the way they did   
when he wasn't sure she'd like what he said next. "I....I think that you might be   
pregnant."   
  
Joyce's jaw dropped open, but the younger Summers didn't even notice. Buffy stared at   
the Englishman for a full ten seconds before she could marshall a response. "Giles....I   
*can't* be pregnant! I haven't been with *anyone* since Angel!"   
  
Giles took off his glasses and looked her dead in the face. "I believe that it could be   
Angel's child."   
  
Buffy Summers looked at him for ten more seconds. Then the vampire slayer did   
something she had never done before, and fainted right on the spot.  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * 


	3. Reasons Why

DISCLAIMER  
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm not making dime   
one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of myself and others. Please don't sue.   
Most character names and places are copyright to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy,   
Inc., but this story is copyrighted 2002 LuNaTiC Publishing.   
  
  
NOTES  
I have been a fan of both the 'Buffy' movie and series since their respective beginnings,   
and I decided to combine some 'Buffy' story with an element from the anime film   
'Vampire Hunter D'. The element is the dampiel, the child of a human and a vampire.   
Now, don't go jumping off the deep end when you finish this, thinking 'what the hell is he   
doing?' This story has nothing to do with anything else, and it was just damn fun to   
write. I like messing with histories that have never been revealed.   
  
  
SYNOPSIS  
It's three months after Buffy and Angel slept together, he's just recently back from  
Hell. Let the drama begin.  
  
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  
  
Might Have Beens and Maybes  
  
Chapter 3 -- Reasons Why  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
"Buffy? Honey?"   
  
The darkness lifted, and Buffy opened her eyes to see her mothers face, and feel her   
mothers hand gently patting her cheek.   
  
"Buffy? Wake up, honey."   
  
"M....mom?" Buffy started to look around. "Giles?"   
  
Giles stepped forward a pace from his position behind Joyce. "I'm here, Buffy."   
  
Buffy looked around some more. "An....Angel?"   
  
"I'm right here, sweetheart." As Angel knelt to take her hand, Joyce slapped him full in   
the face.   
  
"Don't you touch her, you....you....you thing!" Joyce's eyes were ablaze with concern   
and fury. Angel stood up, shaking off the shock of the unexpected hit. "You did this to   
her!"   
  
Buffy was fully awake now. "Mom, stop!"   
  
"I will not stop!" Joyce got to her feet and shoved Angel back a few steps. In her anger,   
she didn't realize the dangerous game she was playing. Angel was obviously fighting his   
still hell-altered instincts and trying not to put her through a wall. "All of the misery you   
went through after that, his changing, your running away, and now this! It's his fault!"   
  
A little unsteady, Buffy leapt up and jumped between her mother and her lover, banking   
that, if Angel did lose it, he wouldn't hurt her just to get to Joyce. "Mom, get a grip! And   
then get a clue!"   
  
Joyce stared. "What?!"   
  
Buffy looked her in the eye. "Unless my memory's been scrambled, me and Angel were   
both there that night. And he didn't seduce me, or any other lame thought you're having,   
I started it. And that makes it partly my responsibility if it's true."   
  
Joyce sputtered for a second. "Well....Why didn't you two use any protection?"   
  
"Mom, he's a vampire! He's not supposed to be able to have kids." She looked over her   
shoulder at Angel. "Right?"   
  
"Right." The red mark of Joyce's hand was disappearing already, as was the anger in   
his eyes.   
  
Joyce was more confused than angry now. "Then....how?"   
  
"Well, I, um, I believe that's my cue." Giles rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Joyce,   
Buffy, please sit down. This will take a while." Joyce sat down on one end of the sofa   
and Buffy and Angel sat on the other. Buffy's arms around Angel's waist, his arm   
around her shoulder in a comforting embrace.   
  
"I recieved a book from one of my Watcher friends a few weeks ago. It contained a   
situation that was oddly similar to Buffy and Angel's. I checked with the Council, and   
they assured me that it was a factual account, albeit one that isn't known widely by   
anyone outside the upper levels of the hierarchy." He licked his lips before continuing.   
  
"In this book was the story of a Slayer living in the southern areas of the Steppes   
territories of Russia, a girl named Alexa Laydnske. She was one of the most formidible   
Slayers of the time, killing over 1,700 vampires from her beginning in 941 to her death in   
949." Giles took a moment to take a sip of water, and also to surreptitiously gauge the   
reactions of his audience before continuing. Joyce was holding her own, although she   
seemed a little impatient. Buffy's face was a mix of fear, apprehension, and just a bit of   
guilt. Angel had already heard this story, and his face might as well have been carved   
out of marble, so firm was his resolve to be there for the girl he loved. Giles set down   
the glass and went on.   
  
"In her travels, she met a Roman vampire named Quistos. He had been a priest of the   
early Christian church when he was attacked, and he'd somehow kept his soul. He only   
killed animals, and in all the records of his existence, there is no indication he ever took   
a human victim. As such, he was less....vampiric than other vampires, and its rumored   
he was even able to withstand daylight for brief periods. They banded together, and   
managed to destroy one of the most powerful vampires of the era, a nobleman calling   
himself Grazdohk. They then realized, that, after several years of travling together, they   
had fallen in love. They petitioned for and were refused marriage by the church, so they   
were married by an old Teutonic priest, in 948. They settled near what is now Moscow,   
and had been married less than a year when they discovered Alexa was with child.   
Naturally, they were shocked, but also, they were thrilled. When it was found out by the   
Council Of Watchers what had happened, Alexa was reprimanded and told that Slayer   
prophecy said that the child so born of their union would be a 'dampiel'. Half human, half   
vampire. She had a fairly uneventful time of it--" Giles looked at Buffy. "Except for about   
a week of horrible morning sickness three months into the pregnancy, and the daughter   
of one of the council Elders midwifed the delivery. The baby was a boy, and it appeared   
perfectly normal at birth. Alexa, however, resumed her slaying duties much too quickly,  
and, in her weakend state, was killed by a vampire only a few months after the birth of  
her son. Alexa's Watcher, a woman named Mary Moore, contacted the Council with a  
plan. She and Quistos raised the boy, letting him believe that Mary was his aunt, and   
that his mother had died in an accident. It was when the child reached puberty that his   
vampiric side manifested. With the aid of his father, Mary, and the Council, the boy   
managed to control it, he grew to be, by all accounts, a rather handsome young man,   
and he married a young village girl in 974."   
  
Giles stopped and took another sip of water. Joyce was on the edge of her seat, and   
Buffy looked like she was about to explode if he didn't get to the point.   
  
"The long and short of it is that when the young man and his wife were on their way to   
his father's home a few months into their marriage, they were attacked by a band of   
highwaymen. The young man was beaten to death, and the robbers tied him to a tree   
as he died and let him watch as they raped and murdered his wife. But, at the moment   
of his mortal death, the young man's vampire half took control, casting out his soul, and   
he became a full vampire. Even stronger than his father, who was quite powerful. The   
young man slaughtered the robbers one by one, and then continued on to his parent's   
house. When he got there, he attacked and then staked his father, and burned down the   
house."   
  
Giles stopped again, and Buffy looked at him. "Giles....what's that story got to do with   
me and Angel? Other than the obvious?"   
  
Giles inhaled deeply before continuing. "The young man's name has been lost to the   
centuries. He set himself up as a master, and took a new name, to symbolize his   
rebirth."   
  
Buffy was still staring at him. "And that new name was...."   
  
Giles was visibly wishing he didn't have to tell her this.   
  
"Lothos."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * 


	4. Decisions

DISCLAIMER  
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm not making dime   
one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of myself and others. Please don't sue.   
Most character names and places are copyright to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy,   
Inc., but this story is copyrighted 2002 LuNaTiC Publishing.   
  
  
NOTES  
I have been a fan of both the 'Buffy' movie and series since their respective beginnings,   
and I decided to combine some 'Buffy' story with an element from the anime film   
'Vampire Hunter D'. The element is the dampiel, the child of a human and a vampire.   
Now, don't go jumping off the deep end when you finish this, thinking 'what the hell is he   
doing?' This story has nothing to do with anything else, and it was just damn fun to   
write. I like messing with histories that have never been revealed.   
  
  
SYNOPSIS  
It's three months after Buffy and Angel slept together, he's just recently back from  
Hell. Let the drama begin.  
  
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  
  
Might Have Beens and Maybes  
  
Chapter 4 -- Decisons   
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Buffy just sat there for several seconds before a confused Joyce moved over next to   
her.   
  
"Buffy, who's Lothos?"   
  
Angel looked at Buffy. "She doesn't know?"   
  
Buffy took a couple of deep breaths, letting the story sink in. "No, it's....never come up   
before. Okay. Mom," Buffy turned to face her mother, "You know that I started slaying in   
L.A. Well, the night I burned down the gym, it was full of vampires, and it was also the   
night I....killed Lothos."   
  
Joyce blinked. "Oh." Then, she turned to Giles. "Um, Rupert, did they figure out the   
reason that Alexa girl was able to get pregnant by a vampire?"   
  
Giles thought for a second before answering. "There are several possibilities, none of   
which were ever proven, simply because it's not happened since. One was that it was   
because Quistos had a soul, and therefore was not truly undead. The second was that   
it was simply the union of a vampire and a Slayer, and the third was that it was because   
Alexa....was a virgin when they wed."   
  
Joyce nodded. "Like Buffy was."   
  
Giles squirmed a bit. "Um, yes."   
  
Joyce looked over at her daughter. Buffy was holding on tight to Angel, her head on his   
shoulder. "Rupert, would you come over here, please?"   
  
Joyce motioned Giles over a short distance away, out of Buffy's hearing.   
  
"Joyce, what--"   
  
"Look, Rupert, I didn't want to embarrass Buffy any more. Is there the possibility that   
she's just late? I assure you, she was telling the truth. She's never been regular, and   
she skips periods all the time. And Sheila Rosenberg told me last week that there was a   
bad stomach flu bug going around, and that Willow had it the week before."   
  
Giles nodded. "That alleviates my concerns, but not enough. Look, Joyce, this   
happened once, there's no reason it couldn't happen again. Now, I hope beyond hope   
that you are right, but if I'm right, we must make preperations and be ready to accept the   
outcome."   
  
"What preperations? What outcome?" Joyce turned around, to see an angry Buffy   
standing behind them, with Angel at her side. Evidently, she'd heard the whole   
conversation. "Look, mom, you discussing my....menstrual cycle with Giles is warped   
enough, but if there's going to be any talk about a baby I might not even be having, it's   
going to include me!"   
  
Giles jumped in, trying to assuage the teenager. "Buffy, your mother raised a quite valid   
point. We don't even know that you are pregnant. It could be the stomach flu."   
  
"Then why tell me?! Why put me through this if you weren't sure?!"   
  
"Because I simply could not afford to take the risk! The Council ruled after Lothos' rise   
that, should this ever happen again, there were to be only two options."   
  
Buffy arched her eyebrows. "Great. Let's hear 'em."   
  
Giles inhaled. "The first is that, immediately after the child is born, an intricate binding   
spell be cast on its soul, to hopefully keep its vampiric half submerged forever."   
  
Buffy kept looking at him. "That's only one, Giles."   
  
Giles shook his head. "The second option is actually a backup to the first. If the   
incantions of the spell are misread in any way, then....the newborn must be killed."   
  
All color drained out of Buffy's face at that, and she clung to Angel for support. The   
vampire hadn't been told that part, and Joyce jumped back as he instantly shifted into   
game face, growling at Giles menacingly.   
  
"You couldn't have....eased into that? Just drop it on her, all at once? Christ!!"   
  
"Angel, be quiet!" Giles' voice was firm. "Look, I came prepared." He walked over to his   
briefcase and withdrew a small plastic kit box. "An injection of progesterone will either, if   
she is pregnant, do nothing; or is she isn't, induce the start of her cycle. That's the only   
way we'll truly know."   
  
Buffy nodded, understanding. "That's why you didn't tell me. You waited until right before   
I usually start."   
  
Giles nodded, blushing. "Although it was a bit awkward, it wasn't that difficult to figure,   
really. But it did require the aid of the only other person who knows about this....possible   
situation."   
  
Buffy was calm now, and she realized who he meant. Only one person besides her   
mother would really know about that.   
  
"Willow."  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Seventeen-year old Willow Rosenberg had taken her dad's car and was now on the   
way to Angel's mansion. She didn't have an early class, so it didn't matter that she   
wasn't at school. On her arrival, she walked into the house to see Buffy standing there   
in a close group with Angel, Giles, and Joyce.   
  
"Buffy?" Willow went up to her best friend and gently touched her shoulder. "Does   
she....?"   
  
"Yes," Giles confirmed.   
  
"Oh." A look of worry crossing her features, Willow started to ramble nervously. "Buffy, I   
hope you don't hate me for this but I was the only one Giles could ask about....that   
without getting some pretty odd questions from your mom or you--"   
  
"Will." Buffy looked the other girl in the face. "S'okay. It's just a....little twisted. This whole   
thing is, really." Looking at her Watcher, Buffy inhaled. "Okay, let's do it." She rolled up   
the sleeve of her shirt.   
  
"Oh, yes." Giles took out a syringe and the bottle, and withdrew the proper dose into the   
hypodermic. Putting the needle to Buffy's bicep, he penetrated the skin and injected the   
horomone into her arm. Withdrawing the needle, he put up the kit. As he sat down, he   
took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.   
  
Joyce looked back and forth between the whole group for a moment. "Now what?"   
  
Giles sighed. "Now, you and Buffy go back home and wait. If Buffy is not pregnant, the   
progesterone should take effect in anywhere from eight to ten hours. If nothing happens,   
we'll discuss what needs to be done tomorrow. I think we've all had just about enough   
for today."  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * * 


	5. Is She or Isn't She?

DISCLAIMER  
None of these characters were invented by me(big suprise), and I'm not making dime   
one off this, it's only done for the enjoyment of myself and others. Please don't sue.   
Most character names and places are copyright to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy,   
Inc., but this story is copyrighted 2002 LuNaTiC Publishing.   
  
  
NOTES  
I have been a fan of both the 'Buffy' movie and series since their respective beginnings,   
and I decided to combine some 'Buffy' story with an element from the anime film   
'Vampire Hunter D'. The element is the dampiel, the child of a human and a vampire.   
Now, don't go jumping off the deep end when you finish this, thinking 'what the hell is he   
doing?' This story has nothing to do with anything else, and it was just damn fun to   
write. I like messing with histories that have never been revealed.   
  
  
SYNOPSIS  
It's three months after Buffy and Angel slept together, he's just recently back from  
Hell. Let the drama begin.  
  
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer:  
  
Might Have Beens and Maybes  
  
Chapter 5 -- Is She or Isn't She?  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Joyce Summers was sitting in the living room of her house, nervously flipping through   
the TV channels one by one. Looking at her watch, she shook her head. Ever since they   
got home that morning just after 8, Buffy had been in her room, the boombox pumping   
out music at a significantly higher than usual volume. Joyce had let her alone, and she   
took a second to glance outside the window. She hadn't realized until looking at her   
watch what time it was, and night had already fallen. Suddenly, she noticed that the   
music emanating from Buffy's room had stopped, and she then heard her coming down   
the stairs. Turning the TV off, Joyce sat on the sofa expectantly, steady in her   
determination to be there for her daughter. Buffy rounded the corner, her face   
unreadable.   
  
"Well?" Joyce's eyes asked the question her mouth failed to shape.   
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
The vampire Angel was sitting on the low wall of his mansion looking up at the stars in   
the clear California night. The entire past day had been difficult for him, but he couldn't   
imagine how it had been for....he caught her scent and turned around to see her   
standing there in the doorway.   
  
"Buffy...."   
  
He jumped down as he saw her and held her close. She returned the embrace for a   
second before pulling away.   
  
"Angel, we....we need to talk...."  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Rupert Giles was on the verge of falling asleep, despite the large quantity of Earl Grey   
tea he'd imbibed. As his eyes began to close for the night, he was jolted awake by a   
knock on his door. Shaking some of the cobwebs from his mind, he grabbed his   
glasses off the table before walking to the door and opening it.   
  
"Buffy!" He was surprised to see her, but he quickly submerged that when he saw the   
serious look on her face.   
  
"Giles, mind if I come in?"   
  
"No, no, of course not." Giles shut the door behind her and motioned her towards the   
sofa, while he went to the bookshelf and picked up a leatherbound old volume, talking to   
her as he seated himself. "I was rereading the story of Lothos' conception--" He   
happened to look up as he sat down, and her expression caused him to stop talking.   
  
"That's why I'm here, actually. I came to tell you, not to worry. I started."   
  
Giles wasn't quite awake yet. "Beg pardon?"   
  
Buffy's cheeks colored slightly. "I....I, uh, got my period."   
  
A visible weight seemed to be lifted off Giles' shoulders at that. "Oh. Oh, thank heaven."   
He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "That was absolutely the last thing we   
needed."   
  
Buffy put on the pseudo-perky front she used to detract attention from herself. "Yeah,   
totally. I mean, could I have kept my slaying job and raised a child? That is, even if we   
had been able to bind it. And talk about a kid with parental issues...."   
  
The Englishman nodded, but he wasn't fooled. "Well, I'm....I'm glad that things turned   
out the way you wanted."   
  
Buffy nodded. "Yeah."   
  
Giles looked her in the face, letting her see that he understood. "I'm also very sorry."   
  
Tears started to run down Buffy's cheeks. "Yeah." She broke down totally as she   
scooted into Giles' comforting embrace, letting herself cry like she hadn't in far too long   
a time. Giles held his charge, giving her the emotional release she needed. They both   
knew that this one-time fluke scare had been as close as she would probably ever get   
to having a normal life with the man she loved. And Buffy wept, pouring out all the stress   
of the past day.  
  
  
* * * * * * * * * * * *  
  
Finis' 


End file.
